Bay and Basin Sportsfishing.com.au

Springing into summer

2011-11-24T19:14:00.000-08:00

How time flies when you're fishing hard and having fun!

This spring has gone down as by far the best season I have ever seen for the "Big girls" in the Basin. As we speak we have managed 12 fish over 90cm since late Sept, and more than that in the 70-90cm range. The aggressive nature of these apex estuary predators had to be seen to believed some days with extraordinary stuff like 90cm plus fish boofing 20cm fish off the surface at our feet. The sheer number of 20-40cm flatties that were predated on by the larger females was staggering. The above mentioned fish hooked by Bob Gray from Erowal Bay followed the small one up before inhaling it. It eventually spat the small one out at the net on two separate occasions before we retrieved the smaller one back to the boat to discover the hooks on the vx blade in her mouth and as such no possible chance of hooking the larger one.

This 72cm flattie ate this 37cm flattie and spat it out in the net!

My 7kg pb on 4lb leader!

Mr Healy was glad he recently moved to Erowal Bay and hooked up with us for a lesson. I believe it was his second flattie on a lure ever.

Aiden McCracken with a cracker. I met Aiden at BCF Penrith with a presentation I did at a club member night. He's very glad they booked a tour.

The "I'm totally stoked" award of the year goes to 12yr old Dylan Pollard. Not only did he catch and release the biggest fish of his life, he ended up on the the cover of the December issue of NSW Fishing Monthly Magazine. Check out my latest south coast report today. In stores now.

Generally speaking the 20 deg temperature mark can see the big ones slow down but as we speak it's 22-24 deg and they're still on the chew to a lesser degree.

Don Hatherly with a new pb on the "old school" flouro orange Mr.Twister he threw out for a laugh. Look what the first cast produced.

As far as the Basin goes it's been fairly consistent. As with all forms of fishing not every day is a diamond, but most days have seen pb's or set goals achieved and we've definitely had a laugh. The real noticeable absence this year has been the bream which have according to my observations had a spawning event in every season this year? The current wet pattern we are experiencing is definitely driving that urge in some way or form. The bream are still here, just not in the big numbers we have experienced in previous years. This situation can change over night and with the new moon this month we should see the surface lure season kick into gear.

Bob Gray from Erowal Bay with 60cm of c&r Basin snapper. One of the very few fish of that size that would be released as most are caught and killed by bait fisho's. This one was caught on an eco-gear zx 40 just after lunch. Bob had dropped 3 croc's in the previous hour in what was one of the all time sessions on the pond.

Speaking of which. The whiting have kicked off with a blast. Whilst most fish have been on the small 26-30cm size to start with they have been aggressive and willing to eat the Lucky Craft NW pencil above all else.

BASS, THE RIVER AND YAKS

The yak trailer is finally done and Darryl no longer has to trundle the yaks from his place to the ramp. We now have opened up some serious territory in which to explore. Over summer bass will be the target. The upper Shoalhaven and Tallowa Dam are already producing fish. The first cicada's started singing a week or two ago and so now the surface lure season is officially ON! We have access to private property at the junction of Yalwal Ck and the Shoalhaven River which is stunning country.

Trish Wills with her first ever bass. Small fish like this are helping to ensure the health of the Shoalhaven bass population.

Why not purchase a gift voucher for xmas for that trip of a lifetime.

JERVIS BAY KINGS

They have started. The reality is that the kings are a year round target. During winter they move off to the deeper reefs well offshore. There are also residents around the cliffs, but it's summer that the warm currents bring the bait in close and the fish follow. We had our first session specifically targeting them last week and managed two fish to 74cm. The start of the season can be patchy but all things going according to plan we're set for an amazing summer given the amount of rain which has provided good nutrient for the bait to feed on. I've also acquired a new kingy popper rod (and a stack of poppers and stick baits:) which will be spooled with 50-80lb braid for the job. Lock and load kiddies!

Ian Jameson with the first JB king of the year! Happy days.

Darryl was out at middle ground on the yak as well. Darryl sleeps with his yak!

THERE'S A KEEPER ARRIVING IN DEC!

To top all this off the wife and I are expecting the arrival of grommet number two in early to mid Dec. It will be a challenging month to say the least but we've enlisted the help of family who will be spending the holiday months with us to lend a hand. Needless to say we won't be tossing this one back lol.

I'd also sincerely like to thank all of you who have fished with us this year and helped me personally to live the dream of being a professional guide. It's the best job in the world on it's day but i couldn't do it without your support. Have a very merry xmas and a safe and prosperous new year.

See you on the water some time

Greg Reid

www.bbsf.com.au

With a spring in our step...

2011-08-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone

Finally the days are warming and winter is slowly but surely releasing it's grip. Spring is in the air and in our step, and after a nice long break with obligatory nanna naps by the fire on the cold and wet days I'm really looking forward to surface lure season with some big crocs and jewies thrown in for good measure.

The last couple of weeks have seen the Basin warm to 14-16 degrees and the big flatties have already started to chew.Our good mate Waz Keelan from www.warrenkeelan.com managed two large ones during the Nowra Marine tournament on the weekend, this on top of myself and Simon Taffs from Milton spooking 5 big ones in the high 80's/90's in the shallows on the Friday.It was amazing, these fish were all within very close proximity to one another so stay tuned.

FATHERS DAY GIFT VOUCHERS

You know that dad really doesn't want sox and undies for fathers day. Give him a gift voucher for a tour because you can take 3 people on the boat and get in on the act as well! The first 5 people to book a voucher will also receive a FREE copy of Sol Bannura's book "Shadowing the ghost of the estuary. My quest to catch Mulloway on lure and how they have messed with my head". It's a great read and a must for anyone interested in catching Jewies.

THE KAYAK GUIDE

Rumour has it that our illustrious kayak guide Darryl Head actually sleeps with his kayak. He and his yak are basically inseparable. When it comes to being on the water you know you are in good hands, and DH has also had a good run on the tournament side of things lately and is now in two grand finals, the ABT, and the Squidgey Southern Bream Series. DH recently took out "big bream" and second place at the Mallacoota round with a 1.44kg fish he swears was around the magic 50cm mark.

The bream and bass will fire over the next few months and there's a free trip on offer for who ever catches the biggest carp in Tallowa Dam between now and next winter. Whilst these fish are a declared noxious pest and don't rate by Australian standards on the dinner plate they do pull like freight trains and are a genuine fresh water sportfish. With 10kg specimens on offer in the dam we'd be mad not to have a crack at them. We'll see who has the last laugh.

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LOX OF OFFSHORE TOURS?

I had a really good opportunity to really put the new LOX snapper and bream rods to the test on a recent offshore trip to the "block and cheese". The "block" is a few miles east of the banks and holds good deep water kings over the winter months.As with all this offshore fishing, "no run no fun" applies, so when the fish appeared on the sounder but wouldn't bite I resorted to jigging Williamson Yabbai Jigs in 90m of water on the little SP 7525 with 10lb braid and light leader from 12-20lb. It was pretty interesting to say the least but I ended up with a mixed bag which included one small king,jackets, bakers, nannygai, and a pb bonito. This when everyone else using live and dead bait were struggling? The rod performed beautifully and I'm really enjoying using both the 7525 and the LS 7023 bream rod.

Just to let you know that we can also offer an offshore fishing tour with our friends from Jervis Bay Fishing Charters on the nice comfy 55 footer "MV Illusion". Illusion has all the bells and whistles to get you offshore in comfort and safety when you want to chase reds, kings, tuna and marlin. I will also be jumping on board to skipper from time to time so come and talk to me about deep water soft plastics.www.jervisbayfishing.com.au

I'm looking forward to seeing you all in the spring.Cheers.

Greg Reid

0413 610832

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

http://www.facebook.com/bayandbasinsportsfishing

Winter blog 2011

2011-07-05T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone

As I tap away on the keyboards me old office which is a caravan parked in back yard (and doubles as a bird watching hutch) is rockin away with gusts of over 40knts outside. I went down to the boat ramp earlier on and was lucky to prize the door open on the car. It had to happen. It's been wonderfully calm and serene here now for weeks and we need a good bit of weather to stir the mix and bring the fish back on the chew in some murky water.

June and July is a pretty interesting time in this part of the world. The pace is a lot slower and I get to enjoy time with the family along with some long lunches and afternoon siesta's by the fire. It's a great time to recharge the batteries and do some fishing I normally wouldn't do with clients like chasing blackfish and drummer off the rocks. Speaking of which, check out nex weekend's (July 17) episode of Ifish on ch10 and One-hd where your's truly turns blackfish expert for the day and catches a few luderick for the dinner table.

Luderick from the stones with Ifish's Paul Worstling.

Speaking of all things tv. If you have pay tv then check out "Hooked on Tackleworld" with Dave Buttfield on the Aurora channel on Tuesdays I think it is. We recently had a great bream session on the new artificial reefs in the Basin. The show should be re-run at least 20 times this year :).

Basin bream for "Hooked on Tackleworld" with Dave Buttfield.

Down in the Sussex River we've been doing the odd luderick session off the boat on spin gear which has been great fun. At this time of year the lower reaches of the estuaries are teeming with "luds" (luderick) and they taste great to boot. It's also been great to bring some simplicity back to my fishing and re-connect with fishing off the "stones" again.Also on the "lud" subject, I recently assisted the JBMPA staff in a luderick acoustic tagging program which is a combined effort by the JBMPA and Booderee National Park. Fish were tagged in the bay and I'll keep you up to date with any progress. It will be interesting to see how far the fish travel?

Surgically implanting an accoustic tag into a Jervis Bay Luderick.

"Luds" on spin gear is great fun with light fast tapered rods.

Regarding the rumours of 6 ton of fish being taken by fisheries in the Basin. Wrong.I recently participated in a trawl survey one evening in the Basin. Each trawl was 5 mins long using a 3m by 90cm long net. No more than a dozen fish or prawns per shot were collected, measured and then returned to the water. This method has been utilised for the past few years and valuable data about Recreational Fishing Havens all over NSW has been collected. Large amounts of fish are not being taken and if you do witness such an event you should be encouraged to record boat rego’s etc and call the illegal fishing hotline on 1800 043 536

Basin trawl count. 6 tonnes? yeah right.

PFIGA AGM
What the hell is the PFIGA. It's the Professional Fishing Instructor and Guides Association. Google it. I recently cruised down to Narooma for the weekend for the annual AGM and get together. The PFIGA is now in it's 20th year and whilst it originally had it's roots in the trout side of things, the membership base has now increased to reflect the saltwater side of the equation. The PFIGA accreditation is a stamp of approval of the guide or business having met strict qualifications and guidelines so that you as the client know that you are dealing with a professional operation not some back yard blow in or shonky operator who is neither insured or focused on the clients needs. Looking into the not too distant future, anyone who wishes to operate as a guide or charter operator will need this accreditation. Fishing tourism is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Australian economy and it's important that we have industry professionals offering the service, not dodgy brothers inc.Following on from the meeting we did what all good guides do and we went fishing. It was really great to spend the morning with Stuie Hinson from Aussie Fish Estuary Adventures and Jack Dart from Sunset Fishing Adventures on Stuie's boat on Wagonga Inlet. We managed some great estuary salmon, bream, trevally, flathead and tailor, and I have to say that Jack's thinly sliced beer battered salmon on the barbie was some of the best fish I have ever eaten. You better believe it!

Jack Dart and his famous beer battered salmon. Fast growing high yield fish that tasted delicious.

BIG REDS AND SALMON
July is also snapper time. Apologies to the few of you who had trips planned for the bay that had to be canceled due to the earlier batch of weather. The way the pattern works here is a batch of weather then calm conditions for extended periods. The calm in the few days following the weather is the time to be Johnny on the spot, particularly if that corresponds with high tides at dawn or dusk. The big reds are in real close for a few weeks to chew on the cuttlefish who are dying off after they mate, and big fish are a real proposition.As the water clears after the first week the fishing becomes tougher unless you want to chase salmon.

When I got the call from Nick Carpenter from Sussex Inlet that he wanted a lesson on chasing reds on plastics I immediately had a good feeling. I get really excited by the shallow water options that occur for a few weeks at this time of year, and as we set out in the pre-dawn light from Huskisson anticipation was high.Less than ten casts in, and enough time for him not to be concentrating on his line the rod buckles over and beautiful sound of ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ and line pouring off the real was a real wake up call. Thank fully the fish swam away from the reef, and after a few more solid bursts and a mexican stand off where we thought it was snagged on the reef, all 85cm of shallow water red appeared and was promptly netted.

Nick Carpenter's caught and released 85cm Jervis Bay Snapper.It's all down hill from here mate lol.

This red smashed the boat and his personal PB and the biggest buzz of all was actually releasing the fish after a few pics and watching it swim off. Words can't express the intense exhilaration you feel knowing the amount of preparation that is required to hunt these fish. These big reds are prime brood stock which will suffer no effects of barotrauma and should be released. It's a moral issue, but in my humble opinion more anglers need to develop a custodial view of the resource like the traditional landowners had, and only take a few smaller fish for a feed. You'd have to be a mug to kill one of these big one's. Glad to get that off my chest! We also ended up catching legal kings, salmon, bream and an absolute horse of a silver drummer on a plastic on that morning before hitting the Basin in the afternoon for not much.

You can see my latest article titled "Nick's Big Red Bream" in the next edition of ET's new E-mag.Go to www.escapewithet.com and take a few minutes to register. The mag is definately worth a read and it's free.

Gulp 5" jerkshad's in nuclear chicken. Guess what they catch?
The one below is a 6" Sebile worm which accounted for this small red second cast.

Now that's what I call a silver drummer.

Speaking of salmon earlier on, as most of you know I love love catching salmon, and in this part of the world they are a year round proposition. I've recently purchased a 6wt fly rod primarily for this species, along with mullet, bream, flathead, bass and carp, yes carp!, and I can't wait to tangle with some 3kg plus fish at Target beach. Speaking of Target, I had a social session there with Andy McGovern from Sport Fishing Australia Magazine last week. The beach was literally stacked with fat fish in less than 5m of crystal clear Jervis Bay water and they were willing to eat almost anything you threw at them. The guy's at Lox Rods had sent me a few rods to "play" with, and so the SP 7527 and the SP7225 were paired with a small 30 size Pfluger Arbour reel with some 6lb braid and look out! The stand out lure for the day was by far the 90mm sinking Sebile Stik Shad in green with blood red oil centre & retro fitted with a single at the rear.. This is the lure Patrick Sebile introduced to us when he was here recently, and the one which the IGFA record claim was caught on. I'm sorry Patrick but we are going to smash that record. Anyway the Lox rod performed beautifully. They are sooth as silk and casting is a joy. Mind you the 4-8kg Berkeley Dropshot's which we use on the boat with the same reel combo is pretty hard to beat in terms of value and you'll be amazed at their pulling power, we've only been using them this summer but they have accounted for some amazing fish and are a good all round combo for flatties, snapper,salmon and small kings.As I have said to many people who are new to using light tackle spin gear for bream etc Get your 1-3kg set up with 3lb braid and target some salom. You'll be amazed at how much power these finesse set ups really have.

Andy McGovern with a Target sambo.

BASIN
The fishing in the Basin has been challenging if you're targeting bream.Phil Holme's 41cm black being the standout for the month. The yellowfin bream are there but haven't been on the chew of late. We won't mention the result of team "Big E and the bandit" in the annual Sussex Bream comp because the big fella and myself were basically reduced to spectators on the second day watching everyone else around us wack fish left right and centre! That's fishing. On the final day we entered Cockrow Ck at 1pm with nothing in the live well and by 1.50pm we had our bag but had left our run too late to get back to Sussex without being penalised.We must therefore apologies for our unsportsman like behaviour and not fronting up to the weigh in on the final day, but it was pretty hard to leave the black bream biting lightly weighted plastics drifted down the side of sunken logs and travel back to Sussex.Compared to the monotony of blading in the deep you can give me structure any day. For those of you who are regular clients think about dedicating a day to exploring the "timber" on your next tour.

Start line for the Sussex Bream Comp.

Phil Holmes with a PB 41cm Black Bream on a green Maria Crankbait. These are a must have lure when chasing bream.

KAYAK TOURS

Over the next few months Darryl and I will be commissioning a new "fully sick mate" purpose built off road trailer to transport the kayaks to the upper Shoalhaven River and Tallowa Dam for our Bass, Bream and Carp tours. Now don't you laugh about carp! we're not going to knock back the opportunity to target 5kg plus fish because they're a noxious pest! Dazza promises me 100 plus bass sessions in the height of summer so let's see if he can deliver the goods. In the mean time it's closed season for bass and ep's which are spawning in the river but some high 40's bass have been caught and released well down the river in the past few weeks for those in the know.The trailer will be able to carry up to 6 yaks with all the gear and you won't miss us on the highway with a full wrap over the whole unit. I also can't thank Steve Fields from Hobie Australasia enough for his support in helping us get this off the ground. The yaks will also be available to hire for tournaments from Mallacoota to Forster with airport transfers available for anyone travelling from interstate. We're really looking forward to making some new mates and going fishing!, so give me a call today on 0413 610 832, or email info@bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Have trailer will travel. Come bass fishing with us this summer.

FISHING REPORTS ON THE RADIO

Tune in on the weekends now for the latest fishing reports from this part of the world. On Saturday's I'll be broadcasting live on ABC Southeast with Jen on 103.5 at around 7am and then on Sunday's on "Hi Tide" with Keiren and Packo on 2SM in Sydney.

See you on the water some time.

Greg Reid

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

From the land of the big bream.

2011-05-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a while I know but the fishing has been top notch most days, and with the weather being pretty kind to us so I have been on the water most days the past few months. As I write this it's now May and it's freezing outside thanks to a cold snap. The Basin will now see some patchy days now but the good news is big tailor are present and they love the cooler water.I've now got tailor rigs at the ready which consist of 6lb braid with 80lb flourocarbon leader, and small minnow style spinners.The bay has continued to be productive although the past month has been a bream fest on the Basin so I've left the bay alone with the southerlies. The bream returned in massive numbers post spawn around the weekend of the Squidgey Southern Bream Series and went on the chew for 3-4 weeks solid. Every fish coming to the boat was shitting cockles and nippers and in really good condition to boot. In fact the bream were so prolific that was all we could catch for nearly two weeks. During this period I managed my first kids tour where we didn't use bait so that says it all. I love when you drift past a few boats dangling bait and catching nothing and the kids are whacking them left right and centre. I recently filmed a segment with Dave Buttfield which will be aired on pay TV in the next few weeks. You guessed it, bream. The segment was filmed on the new artificial reef which was layed down before xmas, check the screen saver shot!

The screen shot you want to see. Wall to wall bream.

Luke Jakovic with a cracking c&r 46cm Basin Bream on a camo Gulp craw.

Speaking of all thing TV and promotional. The "Big E" weaved his Basin magic with Paul Worstling from Ifish recently. They managed a 92cm "Croc" which took 20mins to get to the boat and had them calling it for a jewie or a big red. It will be amazing to see the footage. Yours truly turned blackfish expert for the day and Paul, myself, and good mate Dave "layback" Johnson managed a few luderick from the stones which was a nice distraction from the boat for a day. I used to do a lot from the stones and I plan to do a bit more over winter chasing blackfish and pigs.

I also had the privelege of guiding the enigmatic french lure designer Patrick Sebile recently. Mr Sebile has had a career as a guide, fishing lodge owner, lure designer having sold in excess of 4 million lures world wide which he has personally caught over 664 species world wide. The guy has fished in 54 lodges around the globe and we managed to get him a world record Australian Salmon. We'll let it sit for a bit before we smash that one, but seriously, it was an inspirational day to say the least.

Patrick Sebile with his record 60cm salmon. In 5 trips to Australia this was his first one! We're stoked.

The BCF presentations went down well and it was great to meet some Sydney siders who are now more tuned in to catching fish, particularly on lures. Check out this testimonial. This is why I enjoy guiding so much.

"Hi Greg,

I was at the talk at BCF Auburn you did with Garry Brown. I was Very unsure on the how where and why of blade lures but from some using the feed back was good. So on that night I brought 2 blades to try both around 6 grams. I had talked to my mate about a lure only day and thought this a good enough reason to have a go. He told me they were getting some fish at Long Reef so to Long Reef we go. After finding a good looking spot on the sounder we tried the soft plastics and with many touches we only managed some small Snapper. Not setting the world on fire but showing promise. We decided to move and I changed lures to the little Strike Pro in an olive holograph finish. First cast I let the lure sink ant then gave the rod the lift to feel the vibration I let the lure sink and gave the rod a second lift, BANG! A fright train had just taken possession of my lure. Line was absolutely screaming off the reel. We were fishing over rubble in about 30' of water I was praying not to get bricked by this fish. I was using 10lb fire line with a 12lb trace to achieve the more natural presentation you stressed. So the battle was on what would give in first line, leader, hooks, or the fish. I would get line back the fish would take it, I'd get it close enough to see shape but no colour. This fish was taking me all round to boat. Finally after a fight of between 5 and 7 minutes a nice Sampson fish of around 3kg was boated. To say I was excited was an understatement my fishing partner just stood there looking at the fish laughing. It had been hooked with both sets of trebels but had straightened one set out and nearly done the same to the second set. My fishing partner said I was lucky to not have lost the fish because the lure I was using was for use on bream and bass not these brutes.

I reformed the hooks on my lure and my mate changed to a blade. After a couple of small Snapper and having fun with a school of Bonito the wind got up and we left. We didn't get any more Sampsons but I know I'll be giving the Blades another go. That is after first upgrading the hooks.

So thanks for your input and advise It is appreciated.

Thanks"

Iain Mckay

Don't forget that winter in my humble opinion is one of the best times to be on the water. There's very minimal boat traffic and it was July last year that got me the cover shot for NSW Fishing Monthly with a 72cm snapper from very shallow water in the bay. Check out my monthly reports in NSW FM as Greg Finney has decided to call it a day and Tony Zahn has roped me in to report on matters piscatorial for the Illawarra. Happy days.

Canberra Fisherman's Club secretary Chris Head with a thumping Basin Tailor

Gary Brown came to town and put a smile on his dial!

Khaled Ajaj with the prize. C&R 43cm bream from half a metre of water in the middle of the day.

Eleanor Gibson (13) proved that fishing isn't just for blokes.

I'm lovin these new shads from "Storm". You need them in your bag of tricks!

See you on the water some time

Greg Reid

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Autumn is here.

2011-03-08T03:43:00.000-08:00

Where did summer go?

Whilst the northern half of the country suffered under the deluge of flood and cyclones we've been very very fortunate in this part of the world to not only have missed the whole natural disaster thing, but experience some of the best fishing in years.

The Basin has showed why it is one of NSW premier fisheries with some cracking sessions but just like any estuary it can and does shut down, particularly with lure fishing. Compared to previous dry summers the summer surface bite hasn't lasted as long, and the whiting in particular were down right slow by comparison in the Basin itself. The Sussex River has been the go this summer for whiting. Having said that we set a new record of 20+ black bream on surface in one session over the past month, and the bait fishing sessions are still going strong. Happy days.

New kayak fishing guide Darryl Head with his PB 90cm Basin tailor on a Rapala Shad Rap.

A brace of Basin blacks. You didn't need to go to Mallacoota boy's.

JERVIS BAY

The bay and offshore have fired! It was great to part of the team from Hobie and Fishing Australia with Rob Paxevanos, and to witness Rob's amazing effort in capturing an 80kg black marlin with Paul Leary from a Hobie tandem Mirage Is kayak at the "Banks" in February. See the Hobie website for more details.

http://www.hobiefishing.com.au/2011/02/hot-currents-equals-hot-fishing/#more-1136

A truly amazing day at the office!

In the bay the kingfish have been going off! I got my pb metre king to 12kg in February. We've been getting some great kings to 92cm with sessions of regular 74-83cm fish. I tend to think that this is a direct result of the banning of the fish traps over a decade ago. Also, a wet winter. The nutrient (food) which was part of the fish kill in January is more than likely contributing to the high recruitment of juveniles from many species this month. This has led to a feeding frenzy by yellowtail, slimey mackeral and bonito, which in tern attracts the larger predators. Underneath all this feeding on the surface the reddies have been cleaning up the scraps and we have caught reds to 4.5kg in the middle of the day. Blink and you'll miss it. The down side to this is that reefs in the bay have resembled a car park on the weekends whilst the people with day jobs jostle and drive too close to each other for comfort. Book a midweek tour to avoid the congestion.

Note: All the large kings pictured were released to fight another day. Only take what you need for a feed and put the bigger fish back if you can. The red came from 30m of water and couldn't be released. It ended up on the dinner table after being prepared at the local Thai restaurant in Huskisson.

Feb has seen a few flat days and a bend in a rod.

The girls had a great day out with this fish in the middle of the day on a Berkely Gulp.

PB's all round!

A nice little stripie on 6lb for a bit of surface lure fun.

NEW KAYAK FISHING TOURS AND GIVEAWAYS.

On the kayak fishing side of things I'm really pleased to announce that we have finally got the I's dotted and the T's crossed from the relevant authorities and we will be launching our NEW kayak fishing tours in the very near future. The first 50 people to book onto a guided tour will receive a "Hobie pack", containing a shirt, hat and accessories. This is really exciting for both myself and new kayak guide Darryl Head. Darryl is an extremely experience canoe and kayak guide and has been operating tours on the upper Shoalhaven River for more than a decade. All kayak tours will be conducted on the calm waters of St George's Basin and the upper Shoalhaven River for bass, in fact we have access to private property on the river. Stay tuned for more.

Check out the pic of Darryl and his pb 90cm Basin tailor whilst filming with Rob Paxevanos recently.

FISHING WORLD MAGAZINE

Just in case you weren't aware of Fisho's extensive online material, check out the link below and take the time to really have a good look at the website. It's a wealth of essential info, and the regular weekly newsletter will keep you up to date and informed as to what happening in the "fishing world" pardon the pun.

http://www.fishingworld.com.au/news/estuary-reds-the-usual-suspects

BCF INSTORE APPEARANCES

I'm booked to do another instore talk with Gary Brown at BCF Auburn on the 6th of April. This follows on from the successful BCF Club Member night at Campbletown recently. Gary and myself will be waffling on about how to catch all the inshore species like flathead, bream, snapper and jewfish on both bait and lures. Put that one in your diary if you live in Sydney and pop in and say g'day.

ET'S E-MAG

Check out my latest article on ET's new E-mag. It only takes a minute or two to register and you have access to some great fishing and lifestyle articles from the best in the business.
check out www.escapewithet.com

Tight lines and good times

Greg Reid

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Happy new year.

2011-01-10T18:44:00.000-08:00

G'day Folks

Well hasn't it just been an incredibly busy period since early December 2010. The planned trip out west with Jamin Forbes from Riverina Sportfishing was canned because of the flood situation and the week guiding on Sydney Harbour for Craig McGill's Fishabout Tours was a highlight of an amazing year for yours truly. The Harbour is an amazing world class fishery and Fishabout are a very professional operation. Expect more things to come in this dept.

Xmas has been and gone and will go down as the best xmas fishing I've ever experienced on the Basin to date. We managed to find a good patch of super hungry pan sized snapper, bream, and tailor to 4kg on surface. Throw in a few croc sized flatties and there a lucky few who now have new pb's and memories to last a lifetime. Throughout these whole session we didn't have another boat within half a mile of us the whole time! Happy about that considering the amount of knuckleheads on the water who put their families safety at risk by not having a clue about where they're going. Enough said. Jervis Bay is still on the cold side at around 19 deg and the kings have been patchy inside the bay. The upside has been a good run of summer reds. Graham Parker now has a pb red of 72cm to 4.5kg to brag about. Well done GP. As I write this we have in the past few days experienced one of the most intense downpours of rain which filled a wheelbarrow in a few hours in my back yard. The amount of fresh is definately affecting the surface bite in the Basin. Lets seen what Autumn brings?

Tight lines and good times.

Greg Reid

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Artifical reefs tagging program & report 10.12.10

2010-12-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

Well didn't Tom Mclean and I just eat the proverbial at the B.E.T.S Bream comp on the Harbour last weekend! After a few days of pre-fishing and getting our bag we couldn't catch a legal fish to save our lives on comp day. We actually caught one but given the fact the weigh in was taking forever with 80 odd teams we chose to ditch it and head for home to beat the V8 supercar traffic at Homebush. We had fun catching fish just not the right species. That's fishing.

The trip out to Windemere with Riverina Sportfishing was cancelled due to flooding which was a shame. We'll have another go in March.

Whilst guiding on the Monday morning in the Basin we wacked 20 odd bream and a reddie on bait for an early session then I managed a 70cm flattie and a cracking surface session in clear sandy flats for bream to 35cm on clear Jazz Zappa's and Maria Pencils.It was a fish a cast just as the wind came up in the arvo and one of those days locked into the memory bank forever. Water temp cooled a little this week from recent rain to 24-25deg as opposed to 28deg in shallow, and this has certainly helped the surface action.

Water in JB is still around 17-19 and with howling noreasters and rain not too many people have ventured out. I'll update this on Sunday if we manage to get out there ourselves on Saturday.

As your reading this hopefully the fish are setting up home in their new digs in the Basin. Thanks to the club that doesn’t just take, take, take, the club that practices catch and release, educates, organizes successful bream and flathead comps and put’s back into fishing, that being the St George’s Basin Lure and Fly Club, the Basin is now home to NSW’s largest artifical reef. NSW Dept of industry and investment recently gave a presentation at recent club meeting on the deployment of the second stage of the Artificial Reef program. The club was instrumental in acquiring the necessary funding from the recreational fishing trust (our licence money) for the establishment of the reef. The latest stage has seen a further 600 concrete balls ranging in size from 700mm – 1200mm arranged in a squared grid pattern near reef no 2. There will be gaps in between each section to allow fish to settle in the sand and travel, as opposed to just dumping them in a big heap on the bottom.

Check out www.basinlureandfly.org.au

Also on the research front, I&I now has in place an acoustic tagging program in some NSW waterways. To date fish have been captured and surgically implanted with an acoustic tag. In excess of 500 “Listening” devices have been established, so as the fish swims past it registers an electronic signal and the data is captured. These tags have the potential to last 10 years in a fish if it is allowed to swim and doesn’t get caught in a net or on a line by a fisho who doesn’t give a ---t about fisheries research. If you do catch a fish with a yellow tag near the dorsal get the number, take a photo if you can, release the fish and contact the dept of I&I. The info which has so far been collected on the Shoalhaven River is amazing to say the least, and gates have been recently installed in the Basin. To give you one example of the info collected, a mullet tagged in the fresh water in Tallowa Dam has ended up in Sydney harbour! The first batch of data to come out of the Shoalhaven River has been amazing to say the least.

These pictures are from a recent tagging session in the Clyde River with Dylan Van Der Muelen from NSW Dept of I&I.

First off catch a jewie on a plastic

The fish is then placed in a tub and sedated by pouring in an anesthetic.

Ready for "Doctor Dylan" to begin the procedure.

A regular tag is placed externally on the fish.

A small incision is made and the accoustic tag is inserted. The tag is about the size of the top of your index finger. I missed the shot because it happened so quickly.

During the surgery the gills are kept hydrated by splashing water onto them.

A few stitches.

A shot to ward off infection

And a successful release.

It will be interesting to see what this summer brings on both a fishing and weather front. Given the fact that as of October NSW was officially out of drought and this part of the world has transitioned into a La Nina weather pattern we should see warmer east coast currents, more cyclone activity up north and some good inshore action at least. It’s anyone’s guess as to how long the Jervis Bay will stay cold for? But all the usual species have been on one day and off the next, and the LBG guy’s will be chompin’ at the bit for the annual run of small Marlin from the tubes. If the Shoalhaven River doesn't burst it's banks with a big flood this year I'll be very surprised.

The xmas madness is not far away now!

See you on the water some time

Greg

0413 610 832

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Rain report Dec 2010

2010-12-03T02:14:00.000-08:00

The ancient Egyptians had a "Flood benefit tax". They well knew of the benefits of the aftermath of a big rain event. Whilst the current precipitation is hampering our ability to stay dry and comfortable during a session of a few hundred casts, we will benefit from this wet spell in the form of life giving nutrient in the system for fish and organisms to feed on.

We still fished on this week. I had one session in the Basin all day Monday for little in the way of reward in the lure casting dept. Old mate had come down from Canberra so considering conditions were relatively calm we persevered. Needless to say I'll be shouting him another half day trip when the sun shines and the fish come back on the chew. The Basin will benefit from the fresh just in time for the Xmas rush. Let's hope everyone does the right thing and put's the "big girls" back. I live in hope!

The water is still cold in JB, and for much of the coast in the aftermath of the current Northerly wind situation. Nothing to report this week for obvious reasons. The River is a chocolate mess but I managed an afternoon with Pat Brennan and the Fishing World crew after the weeks filming for the next "how to" videos was cancelled. We managed bream, Bass and Ep's in smooth conditions but no luck in the Jewie dept. Check out
www.fishingworldmag.com.au for more details.

Speaking of online mags, check out my latest article on using surface lures in ET"s new E-mag. Go to www.escapewithet.com Registration is free and it has some great articles.

The next few weeks should see a few fish on the decks as I'm competing in the Sydney Harbour leg of the B.E.T.S Bream series. Tom Mclean from the Basin Lure and Fly Club and myself spent two days this week on the Harbour getting a feel for the place prior to Sunday. Let's hope the fish co-operate. I'll be off to Lake Windemere guiding clients with Jamin Forbes from www.riverinasportfishing.com rain permitting, and the week after that on the Harbour guiding for Craig McGill for Fishabout Tours tackling Kingfish. I've got a few new Tuff Tackle reels which will be christened that week and I'm very excited. Check these reels out. They're Aussie made and in some cases come with a 10yr guarantee. www.tufftackle.com.au

Tight lines and good times.

Greg Reid

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Fishing report 26.11.10

2010-11-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

Check out Rapala's new "Ice Jigs". They have a nice spiraling wounded bait fish action.

Tim Copes with a Basin Longtom on a popper.

Tools of the trade.The Sammy 65 and NW Pencil from Luckycraft and the new Maria Pencil.

FISHING REPORT 26.11.10

JERVIS BAY- The Bay has gone colder again this week after a good run of strong 20-30knt northeasters and the fishing would have been uncomfortable to say the least from a small boat.Lets see what happens after a few days of southerlies next week. Salmon, Tailor are still holding around the headlands in the washes. Size down to some 4lb and have a bit of sportfishing fun with small chrome slices and stick bait style plastics. You pretty much can’t go wrong on the flatties inside the bay in 10-20m and outside the bay on the 30m line. If your coming down for a break get yourself a marine park map to avoid being caught in a sanctuary zone because it will cost you $500 pp no questions asked.

Did you know that Jervis Bay is twice the size of Botany Bay or eight times the size of Sydney Harbour. Travelling from one side to the other is the equivalent of a 5nm offshore voyage. It has the whitest sand in the world and patches of temperate rainforest that will have you thinking your in the Daintree! It’s a beautiful place but it’s also massive stretch of water with little in the way of boat traffic at this time of year so be prepared and log onto to marine rescue Jervis Bay before you head off.

It’s worth mentioning that any of the reefs in the bay hold snapper on plastics year round. Tie on a 3” gulp pepper prawn or 5” nuclear chicken on a 4-9 gram jig head and try your luck.

ST GEORGES’S BASIN- The Basin continues to produce some good results this week, in fact the pan sized flatties have come back with a vengeance this year. Lets hope it lasts. Water temp is now spread around 19-27deg. I fished with Craig McGill and the team from Fishabout tours from Sydney on Monday. Needless to say it was nice to achieve a flattie and a snapper on the first two casts of the day. Stoked. I also had a fun bait session with four Korean born fella;’s who live in Canberra. We cracked a nice bag of bream and pinkies on bait and finished the day at the boat ramp with a spread of soy and wasabi and some lovely sashimi. It tasted better than being cooked!

Bream, whiting and flathead are now steadily taking surface lures, and I personally would rather catch one bream on a beautifully cast surface presentation than 100 bream on bait. Surface lure fishing is a very visual and really exciting way to catch fish. Give me a call if you’ve never had a crack at this form of fishing.

Do the right thing and throw back any flathead over 60cm as they are breeding females and we all want the Basin to stay one of the east coast’s premier “Big Girl” destinations for years to come. You’ll be surprised by the rush you’ll get when you let a big fish go and feel better for it. Big bream of 39cm and above are potentially 15-20 yr old fish and prime breeding stock so only take what you need.

CROCODILES IN THE BASIN!

If you If you want to put yourself in the picture to have a chance at catching a big Basin flathead then “croc” season is still ticking over. We won the 2010 Basin Flathead Classic with a 90cm fish so we know where they are. October/ Nov are the prime months so book now for some fantastic spring lure fishing. If you’ve never caught a fish on a lure and you want to escape the city crowds then give me a call today on 0413 610 832 or check out the website on www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

JEWFISH IN THE RIVERS!

This week we have had great tides around the moon for a jewie. No joy for us this week on Thursday throwing plastics for jew in the Shoalhaven but all reports from the Clyde say that it is fishing better than this end of the coast. I’ll let you know how I go on Sunday?

SYDNEY HARBOUR

Yes that's right Sydney Harbour. I will be doing a few day's guiding for Fishabout Tour's on Sydney Harbour in Mid December. We've got a few new Tuff Tackle reels to tangle with some Harbour Kingies so let's hope the fishing god's are kind to us. I'll also be spending a few days later next week in preparation for next weekend's Sydney B.E.T.S bream round on the harbour.

Tight lines and good times

Greg Reid

0413 610 832

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Best flattie ever to date.

2010-11-19T03:23:00.000-08:00

G' Folks

The Basin and the Bay continue to fire this week. I actually took some time out with the family this week and we gave Cropper's Cottages at Sussex Inlet a bit of a test run, needless to say we've booked our place for next year. The cottages are one of those unpretentious south coast gems that take you back to a time where everything was simple and uncomplicated, a place to just sit and relax and fish! Yeah fish. It's got everything covered, beach, rock offshore and estuary. I managed my best flattie ever to date, not the biggest but definately the best. This fish was sight cast up the river in knee deep water 2m off the bank. Using 10lb braid with 20lb leader and a Rapala Shad Rap, repeated casts were put in in the troughs in the sand because I knew there just had to be one there. I saw the lure disappear and then the fish stuck it's head up then the whole body just materialized out of the sand and hovered for a few seconds before the first blistering run. We'd be picking off good fish for the pan all week on bream gear but this fish was in a class of it's own and there's no way I would have stopped on 4lb bream gear in the current. After a few quick pics she was released and swam off nicely to breed another day. Enjoy.

Skinny water fires up

2010-11-13T03:27:00.000-08:00

Pat Brennan and Andy McGovern sample the Basin snag dwelling bream.

Successful jewie tag surgery and release.

Local Rod Chick's cracking 42cm surface lure munching bream. He dropped another one the same size judging by the surface boil it left!

Will "The Skunk" McPhail out fished his dad and scored this great 78cm big girl which was released after a few photo's.

The last week has been amazing to say the least. Aside from the incredible fishing I've met some great people and had a great time in the skinny water. This week I've seen three jewies, 2 crocs, of which we only got one in the boat (next time Bill), and a 42cm bream that left a footprint on the surface strike the size of a soccer ball! The jewie pics show part of the surgical procedure being done to implant an acoustic tag into the fish, and then the successful release as part of the new acoustic tagging program being undertaken in the Clyde River. I'm having a week off from the 15-19 before the xmas rush starts. I hope I can put you in the picture as well. Enjoy.

Fishin Report 12.11.10

2010-11-12T01:44:00.000-08:00

JERVIS BAY- Water is a bit like pea soup in the Bay at 15-18 deg this week. The fishing in the bay has been patchy to say the least. Outside those in the know have been sending out Sargent Baker live baits for amazing results. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that. The banks has stacks of rat kings and good reds on the gravel before the wind gets up. Personally I’d give it a miss after a few days of strong northerlies, it will be a bit bumpy. Down south blackfish are thick on the ocean rocks, and the usual salmon and bonito will be off the Island. If your coming down for a break get yourself a marine park map to avoid being caught in a sanctuary zone because it will cost you $500 pp no questions asked.

It’s worth mentioning that any of the reefs in the bay hold snapper on plastics year round. Tie on a 3” gulp pepper prawn or 5” nuclear chicken on a 4gram squidgey finesse head and try your luck.

ST GEORGES’S BASIN- The Basin water temp went up a few degrees this week to 19-26 deg. As predicted, last weeks rain certainly fired things up and the surface bite this week has been electric. Bream, whiting and flathead are steadily taking surface lures, and I personally would rather catch one bream on a beautifully cast surface presentation than 10 bream on bait. The freezer filling bait fisho’s have also been giving the bream and reds a hiding as well. Surface lure fishing is a very visual and really exciting way to catch fish. Give me a call if you’ve never had a crack at this form of fishing. Flathead are in very shallow at the moment feasting on the run of spring prawns. We dropped a big one around 90cm at the boat on Friday morning, but we’ve now managed 6 fish between 80-90cm, and a heap of fish in the 60-80cm range in the past month. Do the right thing and throw back any fish over 60cm as they are breeding females and we all want the Basin to stay one of the east coast’s premier “Big Girl” destinations for years to come. You’ll be surprised by the rush you’ll get when you let a big fish go and feel better for it. Big bream of 39cm and above are potentially 15-20 yr old fish and prime breeding stock so only take what you need.

CROCODILES IN THE BASIN!

If you If you want to put yourself in the picture to have a chance at catching a big Basin flathead then “croc” season is in full swing. We won the 2010 Basin Flathead Classic with a 90cm fish so we know where they are. October/ Nov are the prime months and it will book out fast so book now for some fantastic spring lure fishing. If you’ve never caught a fish on a lure and you want to escape the city crowds then give me a call today on 0413 610 832 or check out the website on www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

JEWFISH IN THE RIVERS!

This week I spent Tuesday targeting Jewies on soft plastics in the Clyde River with the staff from the NSW Dept of I&I as part of the new acoustic tagging program. We managed to hook 3 fish and land one that went 1.06m. The fish had an acoustic tag surgically implanted and was then successfully released. The sonic tags can emit signals for up to ten years meaning that these fish can provide valuable data over a long time throughout a range of environmental conditions. If you do manage to recapture a fish with a tag then preferably take down the number, release the fish if you can, and contact the dept of Industry and Investment. I have days left for the next moon in November to target Jewies so get on the phone today.

Tight lines and good times

Greg Reid

0413 610 832

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Fishing report 6.11.10

2010-11-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

JERVIS BAY- Water temp is holding around 18 deg this week. No reports from offshore this week as the weather has been ordinary.Offshore to the north kings to 10kg are still ticking over around the drum and beecroft with slow trolled live yellowtail still being the bait of choice.In the bay the bonito, Kingfish, Salmon, Tailor and drummer in the washes are viable off north Bowen, and Angelo from Jervis Bay Fishing Charters reported some 10kg plus bruisers early in the week under Pt Perp. Jervis Bay definitely fishes better with a bit of a bump on it but it’s hard going in small boats. Try for flatties inside the bay to the west of Bowen and the squid are still quit active and full of milk . If your coming down for a break get yourself a marine park map to avoid being caught in a sanctuary zone because it will cost you $500 pp no questions asked.

From "little things big things grow"

ST GEORGES’S BASIN- The Basin water temp is now hovering 17-22 deg. It’s been raining all week so not much to report. This latest drop of fresh will really fire up the prawns which in turn will fire up the fishing even more once the sun returns. Bream, whiting and flathead are already taking surface lures, and I personally would rather catch one bream on a beautifully cast surface presentation than 10 bream on bait. Surface lure fishing is a very visual and really exciting way to catch fish. Give me a call if you’ve never had a crack at this form of fishing. Flathead are in very shallow at the moment feasting on the first run of spring prawns. We’ve now managed 6 fish between 80-90cm, and a heap of fish in the 60-80cm range in the past month. Do the right thing and throw back any fish over 60cm as they are breeding females and we all want the Basin to stay one of the east coast’s premier “Big Girl” destinations for years to come. You’ll be surprised by the rush you’ll get when you let a big fish go and feel better for it. Big bream of 39cm and above are potentially 15-20 yr old fish and prime breeding stock so only take what you need.

CROCODILES IN THE BASIN!

JEWFISH IN THE RIVERS!

I spent yesterday on the Shoalhaven with Waz Keelan from “Strikezone TV” and Luke Evans from BCF in Fyshwick targeting Jewfish on plastics. We had a fantastic day on the water and managed two small soapy Jewies for our efforts. It doesn’t matter how big they come, it’s always exciting to catch one (or two) on a plastic. In between tides we took a look right up to the top of Broughton Ck and flicked lures into the snags for bream and bass. We managed a few bream and had a good look at the system post rain. The fishing in the creek should really fire up once the weather warms after this ridiculous November cold spell. I have days left for the next moon in November to target Jewies so get on the phone today.

Tight lines and good times

Greg Reid

0413 610 832

www.bayandbasinsportsfishing.com.au

Sportsfishing Blog

2010-11-01T02:19:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone

We thought we needed a better way to communicate with everyone on how the fishing is in this part of the world and the new and exciting ways in which we are now going about that. Some exciting things have been happening of late so stand by for more. I want your feed back so feel free to comment.

Tight lines and good times

Greg